The Coolest People I Know Are About to Be Wearing These New Vans Sneakers

February 7, 2025 / Swedan Margen /

(Image credit: Courtesy of Vans)

Oh, a new Vans collection just dropped, you say? No need to twist my arm. I’ll be adding the sneakers to my cart faster than you can say “Visa or Mastercard?” As a San Diego native, I’ve been wearing the SoCal-based brand since elementary school, and I don’t plan on becoming disloyal anytime soon. My latest obsession is the just-released Vans Premium Old Skool Music Collection. The iconic Old Skool silhouette has been given a makeover for 2025, and the results are too good to ignore.

To get the scoop on the new launch, I interviewed Diandre Fuentes, the head of design for Vans Lifestyle Footwear. Fuentes started working at Vans 11 years ago as a footwear design intern. “Now, I lead a team of amazing designers that create new color, material, graphic, and trend collections for our classic Vans icons (think Old Skool, Authentic, Classic Slip-On). We also create our new, up-and-coming models,” Fuentes told me. “It’s very rigorous work, and I have an extremely talented team that creates hundreds of new designs for a wide array of consumers every season.” Continue reading our chat and shop the shoes below.

How did the idea for the Premium Old Skool Music Collection come about?

When we were brainstorming, the team and I were exploring ways we could celebrate the legacy and cultural significance of the Old Skool in a way that celebrates heritage but would feel fresh and intriguing to new consumers. In recent years, there has been a boom of fascinating shifts in fashion, particularly street style, in which rules are being rewritten, and young people are creating their own style playbooks. This sentiment feels very related to the spirit of skateboarding, which embodies a sense of rawness, experimentation, expression, and subversion. While we don’t all skateboard, we can all relate to music and tap into that same spirit through different genres of music and the style subcultures they create.

There is a beautiful authenticity and organic quality to the way musical iconoclasts were adopting Vans into their style expressions, from the ’80s to the 2000s to now. When we dug into the archives, we saw Vans on the feet of Henry Rollins, countless fans and artists at Warped Tour, and members of Odd Future. We wanted to celebrate the way these artists, their fans, and these musical movements helped solidify Vans and the Old Skool as the icon we know today.

(Image credit: Courtesy of Vans)

How are these new versions different from the original Old Skool?

We wanted to remain true to the iconic look of the Old Skool, [but] as a brand, we know how important it is to modernize the shoe to address the comfort and fit needs of our consumers. That’s why this collection was designed using our Premium build, which includes a new insole technology called Sola Foam ADC, which amplifies underfoot comfort. The overall fit and construction of the shoe were improved for a more seamless and comfortable wear. Additionally, the Sola Foam insoles are bio-based, and our iconic vulcanized-rubber outsoles are made of regenerative rubber for a more sustainable take on our classic build. The naked eye won’t be able to catch all the tech we packed into the Premium Old Skool, but your feet will instantly feel the difference.